The upcoming meeting between President-elect Barack Obama and his onetime rival Sen. John McCain was set in motion during a phone call over the weekend between Obama and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), McCain's closest friend.

Having had a few days to recover from the intense pre-election period, John and Cindy McCain e-mailed their supporters today a final "thank you" note, urging them to offer Democratic President-elect Barack Obama "good will."

Talking to voters in Ohio and New Hampshire over the past two weeks, it was hard not to concluded that a race that for most of its duration was about Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton wound up, during its final leg, being to a great degree about Sarah Palin.

Trailing in the polls, the Republican senator from Arizona demonstrated a continuing sense of good humor three days before the election, traveling to New York City for yet another live appearance on the variety show.

After months of trying to tie Sen. John McCain to the Bush administration and paint him as portending a retread of the current presidency, Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden today jumped on footage of Vice President Cheney endorsing the McCain-Palin ticket at a Wyoming Republican event.

At a rally this morning at an Ohio high school, Graham posed a simple question to the audience. "Anybody been to South Carolina?" Graham asked, as the crowd applauded. "If we win Ohio, you get a free weekend in Myrtle Beach."

McCain's big moment of campaigning with Joe the Plumber for the first time was missed by all the major TV networks, whose cameramen and audio technicians were running from the bus when they heard McCain's voice starting his rally.

In an interview today with ABC News' "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said she would continue to seek a leadership role within the GOP even if she and John McCain did not win the White House next week.

McCain today compared the director of Columbia University's Middle East Institute to a "neo-Nazi" and called on the Los Angeles Times to release a video of a 2003 banquet at which Obama talked about the professor, Rashid Khalidi.

Sen. John McCain acknowledged that he and President Bush share a "common philosophy" as Republicans but the GOP's presidential nominee insisted that he is his own man, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" for the first time in more than nine months.

Some of Joe Biden's recent comments about Sen. Barack Obama have found their way into the latest TV commercial produced by Let Freedom Ring USA, a conservative group set to spend $5 million by Election Day on a series of TV and radio ads in five battleground states.

In a fiesty interview this morning with talk show host Don Imus, John McCain vigorously defended his vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin, describing criticism of her as "elitist" and describing her as "the most qualified" vice presidential candidate in recent years.

Senior McCain aides blasted a report published in today's Washington Post quoting commentary on an Islamic extremist Web site that "Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election," saying that The Post had relied on a "blogger" whose connections to al-Qaeda were questionable.

John McCain has been looking for every opportunity to try to sow doubts about Barack Obama. Today, he seized on Obama's effort this week to show some love to the Tampa Bay Rays, a hated group here in Phillies country just before the World Series.

John McCain has not been talking too much about international affairs in recent days, but the suggestion by Democratic running mate Joe Biden that the world may try to test a President Obama early in his administration prompted him to dive back in.

GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has a new way of attacking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his lack of experience: She now provides a tally of how many days he served in the Senate before launching his presidential bid.

The dinner is a big-time fundraiser for Catholic Charities and, every four years, an opportunity for the major-party presidential nominees to take a few hours off from the combat and sniping of the campaign trail and poke fun at themselves and each other.

"This is John McCain's display of his maverick ethics: He believes he is entitled to free cell service while other Americans have to pay for theirs," said Bob Bauer, general counsel of the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign.

Obama is pushing back anew against the "palling around with terrorists" charge -- running two television advertisements and a radio spot in states where the Republican Party has ads noting his association with 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

When the McCain campaign abruptly pulled out of Michigan two weeks ago, some Obama aides and top Democrats in the state's congressional delegation dismissed it as a ploy and argued the GOP would be back in the state full-time, big-time. And indeed, since that stunning announcement Oct. 2, it's not as if the Republicans have disappeared.

Spoofing antidrug public service announcements that target teens and their risky behavior, the latest commercial from MoveOn.org Political Action stars two actors from the hit CW teen soap opera "Gossip Girl" encouraging parents to just say no to a behavior common to their age group: Voting for John McCain.

Hank Williams Jr. sang an ode to "McCain-Palin tradition" at a rally here today, but the song's original lyrics don't quite mesh with the campaign's family values theme and were altered for the campaign event.

Declaring that "nothing is inevitable here," McCain noted that his campaign is 6 points behind Sen. Barack Obama's in the polls, a stark admission as public polls document his slide. But McCain sought to turn his position in the race into a positive, calling himself an underdog and portraying Obama as too certain of victory.

President Bush's decision to remove North Korea from the State Department's list of the state sponsors of terrorism badly split officials in his administration. Now it appears to have also split a potential McCain-Palin administration.

Falling behind in a sheaf of polls amid one of the nastiest campaigns in the country, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) announced today that he will unilaterally disarm: He will pull his negative advertising and urge his supporters to do the same.

This John McCain ad employs guilt-by-association tactics on two fronts, trying to tie Barack Obama to both the mortgage meltdown and an unsavory character. To say that Obama "lied" about his contacts with Ayers, whose Weathermen group conducted bombings when the senator from Illinois was 8 years old, is simply untrue.

At a time when the nation needs inspiration and confidence-building, the two candidates running for president are trying to ensure that whoever ends up winning next month will be seen as unfit by a sizable portion of the population.

John McCain's policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin asserted John McCain's new proposal for the government to buy bad mortgages would eventually help lower interest rates, stabilize housing values and perhaps help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure or obtain more affordable mortgages

The Republican National Committee's independent expenditure unit will spend more than $5.5 million in the next week to air an ad in five battleground states that claims Barack Obama's government spending proposals could cost close to $1 trillion.

When John McCain severed his ties with a group linked to ultra-rightwing death squads in Central America may make a difference considering some of the literature associated with the U.S. Council for World Freedom.

The Service Employees International Union is targeting John McCain's health care plan in a new ad airing in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, suggesting the Republican's plan will mean tax increases for middle income Americans.

In a conference call with reporters this afternoon, John Dowd, the Washington lawyer who represented McCain during the Senate investigation, called the inquiry a "classic political smear job" by the Democrats running the Senate at the time, saying that they only included McCain to make sure that a Republican was among the targets.

New ads released over the weekend by Barack Obama continued a focus on health care, while John McCain's criticized Obama's record on taxes in perhaps the last gasp of the policy-related ad war that has dominated the airwaves in recent weeks.

A lawyer for the Republican National Committee today said the party will ask the Federal Election Commission to look into the source of thousands of small-dollar contributions to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

John McCain this afternoon hailed the House passage of the $700 billion economic rescue plan but described the bill approved by Congress as a "tourniquet, not a permanent solution" to the problems facing the U.S. economy.

Capitalizing on the success of its hard-hitting ad questioning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's support for predator control, a national environmental group is expanding its television buy in time for Thursday night's vice presidential debate.

Despite having insisted that his announcement last week of a temporary campaign suspension was not political, Sen. John McCain made it clear today that he plans to use his return to Washington, D.C., as campaign fodder in the last five weeks before election day.

Sen. John McCain returned to Washington on Thursday after declaring that he has suspended his campaign, but he appeared largely detached from the flurry of negotiations on a $700 billion economic rescue package that appeared to be headed to a successful conclusion.

Seeking to bolster her foreign policy credentials, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will embark Tuesday on a dizzying series of meetings with heads of state who have traveled to New York for the opening ceremony of the United Nation's General Assembly.

Steve Schmidt, the day-to-day operational manager of John McCain's presidential campaign, blasted the New York Times for alleged "advocacy" on behalf of Barack Obama's campaign in a conference call today.

President Bush waded at least a little way into the presidential campaign today during remarks at the White House, defending his administration's massive financial rescue plan as benefiting Main Street and offering another endorsement for GOP candidate John McCain.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain offered few new details this morning on how he would respond to the crisis in the nation's financial markets, instead renewing his criticism of Democratic rival Barack Obama's ties to former heads of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

McCain suggested he would continue President Bush's policy of having cool relations with the government of Spain, despite having made starkly contrasting statements to the Spanish press earlier this year.

Clinton advisers said that the senator did not want to turn the rally, intended to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance at the United Nations, into a political circus by having the two women share the stage.

The McCain campaign has started airing a new Spanish-language television commercial in the battleground states of Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico that lays the failure of comprehensive immigration reform at the feet of Barack Obama and his Democratic colleagues -- despite the fact that Obama supported the bipartisan John McCain-Edward Kennedy efforts to enact such reforms and voted for their final proposal last year.

This John McCain commercial, which contains two significant distortions, is part of a larger effort to rule criticism of his running mate out of bounds and paint her as the victim of unfair attacks from both Democrats and the media.

John McCain remains on the defensive about rumors he will pick a running mate who supports abortion rights, only days after a strong performance at a forum on values issues had reassured social conservative voters.

"The surge has succeeded and yet Senator Obama still cannot quite bring himself to admit his own failure in judgment," McCain a crowd of several thousand attending the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Along with his wife and some top aides, John McCain and his campaign road pals, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, ate dinner at the Olive Garden here last night, a day before McCain was to speak to at the conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Former Sen. Phil Gramm, the lawmaker-turned-lobbyist who was unceremoniously sent to the cooler by his friend, Sen. John McCain for saying that the recession was "mental," appeared in Aspen with the GOP nominee today.

Staff attorneys for the Federal Election Commission have recommended that the commissioners accept Sen. John McCain's position that he was legally entitled to withdraw from public matching funds during the primary.

A new question has surfaced this morning surrounding the bundling activity of Harry Sargeant, the Florida Republican who has raised more than $500,000 for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) promised to provide a $5,000 tax credit for Americans who buy electric-powered cars such as the future Chevy Volt and "other automobiles that put us on the path to energy independence."

Sen. John McCain told autoworkers here that he will continue to support the free trade agreements that many of them blame for the loss of their jobs, but said he is hopeful that a shift to new technologies will provide a new market for their skills.

For months, John McCain has been using the exact same phrase to describe his assessment of the situation in Iraq that he's now using to describe his empathy for American suffering tough economic times.

The Democratic National Committee has submitted a request under the Freedom of Information act to the State Department, asking for records relating to actions by Canadian Ambassador David Wilkins in helping to set up a visit to Ottawa by Sen. John McCain. --Michael D. Shear

A $100-a-plate luncheon speech by Sen. John McCain in Ottowa was organized in part by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, and Democrats alleged that Wilkins's actions could be construed as a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits many kinds of political activities by government employees. -- By Michael D. Shear

In a speech intended to kick off a lengthy discussion about the nation's energy needs, John McCain accused Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of favoring failed energy policies based largely on the imposition of higher taxes. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was applauded today in New Jersey when he decried Thursday's Supreme Court ruling granting foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts. --Juliet Eilperin

The Republican presidential nominee did not talk the way many Republican candidates do about the need for a crackdown on gangs, or tougher prison sentences or a need to enforce gun laws. --Michael D. Shear

McCain said he did not support the bill sponsored by two of his closest allies, Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), because it doesn't offer enough aid to the nuclear industry, and he would not come to the floor to vote on it. --Juliet Eilperin

In an unusual joint statement, the three major presidential candidates warned the government of Sudan that they are united in demanding a halt to the violence and genocide in Darfur.
--Michael Abramowitz

Sen. John McCain today called for negotiating a new arms control agreement with Russia that would further reduce nuclear weapons, staking out a position on nonproliferation that was somewhat at odds with the policies of the Bush administration. --Glenn Kessler

John McCain and his wife, Cindy, are entertaining a group of prominent Republicans -- including Governors Charlie Crist (Fla.) and Bobby Jindal (La.) and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- for social, rather than political, reasons, aides say. --Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain may be blasting Sen. Barack Obama now for his willingness to meet with Iran's leaders, but Sen. Chuck Hagel -- a close friend of McCain's -- suggested tonight that McCain's rhetoric stems from presidential politics, not conviction. --Glenn Kessler

Mark McKinnon, the lead media consultant for Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) presidential bid, is stepping down from that role -- making good on a pledge he made last year not to work against Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the fall campaign. --Chris Cillizza

MIAMI -- Using a Cuban folklorico band as a warm-up act, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) highlighted his opposition to the Cuban government this morning and questioned Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) willingness to talk to its current president, Raul Castro. --Juliet Eilperin

GRESHAM, Ore. -- Sen. Barack Obama came to a senior citizens center here to discuss the squeeze faced by middle-class retirees and reiterate his longstanding proposal to eliminate income taxes for any senior making less than $50,000 per year. --Matthew Mosk

Sen. John McCain mocked his age by declaring he has the "oldness" to be president and urged Democrats to continue fighting over the nomination even beyond their convention, as he made his second appearance on Saturday Night Live. --Michael D. Shear

The campaign of Sen. John McCain continued to dismiss staffers this week for violating the campaign's new ethics policy as Democrats ratcheted up pressure on some of McCain's top advisers for their lobbying backgrounds. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. Barack Obama this afternoon described his diplomatic approach as being consistent with decades of U.S. foreign policy, and expressed surprise with President Bush's position that it would be wrong to meet with foreign adversaries. --Matthew Mosk

Sen. John McCain predicted today that the Iraq war would be won and most American troops would come home by 2013 if he is elected president, joining his Democratic rivals for the first time in offering a timeline for a large-scale military withdrawal. --Michael D. Shear

Arizona Sen. John McCain claims the environmental mantle, but the record shows that Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have also pushed for a strong response to global climate change. All three presidential hopefuls differ with President Bush on the issue.

The liberal online advocacy group MoveOn.Org Political Action has sent out a new e-mail that seizes on the weekend purging by Sen. John McCain of two advisers who had registered as lobbyists for the repressive regime of Burma. --Matthew Mosk

ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delved into issues of religious freedom and human rights Wednesday morning, telling a crowd of several hundred supporters that policymakers need to confront the fact that "evil still exists in the world." --Juliet Eilperin

In speech at Wake Forest University, presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) decried "the common and systematic abuse of our federal courts by the people we entrust with judicial power." --Juliet Eilperin

After sitting on the story for nearly eight years, Arianna Huffington said yesterday that John McCain told her soon after the 2000 election that he did not vote for George W. Bush. --Howard Kurtz and Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain today attempted to clarify comments about the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis, saying that he never intended to say that federal budget earmarks were the cause of the fatal collapse of the span.--Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Sen. John McCain heaped praise on a hospital here for its innovative use of technology as he continued a week-long health-care tour aimed at highlighting his free-market plans for revamping the way medical insurance is delivered. --Michael D. Shear

The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonpartisan research organization, today released the candidates' responses on whether they would demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program. --Glenn Kessler

TAMPA, Fla. -- Sen. John McCain rejected calls for universal health coverage and reaffirmed his faith in the economic principles that have guided President Bush for eight years, declaring Tuesday that government's role in health care should be limited to kick-starting a competitive marketplace so people can buy their own insurance. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain will hold his first really big fundraiser next week in New York City, a gala event hosted by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in conjunction with the Republican
National Committee and expected to raise about $4 million. --Michael D. Shear

NEW ORLEANS -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who skipped a Senate vote seeking equal pay for women last night in order to campaign for president, said he opposed the measure because it would prompt a flood of lawsuits. --Juliet Eilperin

NEW ORLEANS --Touring the Lower Ninth Ward this morning, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina and vowed to respond differently if elected president. --Juliet Eilperin

INEZ, Ky. -- Greeted with whoops and cheers by a crowd in a packed courthouse here this morning, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) pledged to help small rural communities that have been largely overlooked by national politicians. --Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain began an effort to reach out to minorities and the poor this morning, saying in Selma, Alabama, that he will spend the week visiting people who have been ignored by politicians in both parties. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) questioned Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) affiliation with a sixties radical today, foreshadowing the kind of cultural divide that will likely dominate any contest between the two parties during the general election. --Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain raised $15 million in March and has $10 million in the bank, his top advisers said this morning. Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, shared the figures during a wide-ranging briefing at the campaign's Virginia headquarters. --Matthew Mosk

SOUTH MILWAUKEE -- A day after John McCain offered an economic vision that included breaks for business and corporate America, he traveled to a mine equipment plant here for a round-table discussion with titans of industry. --Michael D. Shear

The British prime minister is visiting Washington this week, and for the first time in seven years his most important meeting may not occur in the Oval Office: Gordon Brown is planning to meet Thursday with each of the three U.S. presidential candidates, an effort to obtain a first-hand judgment of how U.S. policies -- and the relationship between Britain and the United States -- may change come January. --Michael Abramowitz and Kevin Sullivan

Sen. John McCain today offered sweeping rhetoric about the economic plight of working-class America, even as he spelled out a tax and spending agenda whose benefits are aimed squarely at spurring business and corporate growth. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain will propose that affluent seniors pay more for government provided drug benefits as a way to control health care spending, aides said during a preview of a major economic speech the senator will deliver Tuesday in Pittsburgh. --Michael D. Shear and Jonathan Weisman

A coalition of big-city mayors is using the words of the three presidential candidates as backing for their mission to enforce stricter gun control. The group, called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has released a television ad that shows Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain each calling for legislation to close the loophole that allows guns to be sold at gun shows without the same checks as in a store. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain told newspaper executives that he supports a "shield law" to protect reporters who don't reveal their anonymous sources, putting him at odds with the Bush administration, which has threatened to veto the bipartisan legislation. --Michael D. Shear

Sen. John McCain said Sen. Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" Americans suffering economic distress were "elitist" and he called them a "contradiction from what I believe America is all about." --Michael D. Shear

The Democratic National Committee announced today it will file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday to force Sen. John McCain to stay in the public financing system until he formally accepts the Republican presidential nomination in September. --Matthew Mosk

As his political opponents heap on scorn, Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged that he chose his words poorly when describing small-town Pennsylvanians at a fundraiser on Sunday. But he didn't back off the message he had sought to convey. --Shailagh Murray

Sen. Hillary Clinton criticized Sen. Barack Obama for a comment the Illinois senator made at a fundraiser in San Francisco earlier this week in which he referred to voters in Pennsylvania as "bitter." --Perry Bacon Jr.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain added his voice to the growing chorus of officials urging President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics in China. --Dan Balz

BROOKLYN -- Two weeks after drawing criticism for saying he favored only a limited federal role to help deal with the home mortgage crisis, Republican presidential candidate John McCain sought to assure Americans he is prepared to use the government where necessary to help ease the impact of a declining economy on working families. --Dan Balz

Former president Jimmy Carter plans to meet next week in Damascus with Khaled Meshal, the head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in a direct rebuke of the Bush administration's campaign to isolate it. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was quick to blast Carter's reported plans, while Clinton and Obama issued statements with milder language, saying they "disagreed" or did "not agree" with Carter's plans. --Glenn Kessler

WESTPORT, Conn. -- Speaking before a global investment firm this afternoon, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took pains to distance himself from President Bush even as he reiterated his support for Gen. David Petraeus's handling of the war in Iraq. --Juliet Eilperin

Tonight, as McCain is joined at the Willard Hotel by a crowd of Washington lobbyists who will be donating to his presidential campaign, the Public Campaign Action Fund will protest the senator who was once an ally. --Matthew Mosk

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Speaking just a day before Gen. David Petraeus will testify before Congress about progress in the war in Iraq, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said this morning his Democratic rivals' promise to withdraw amounts to "the height of irresponsibility" and "a failure of leadership." --Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain's campaign returned $3 million to donors this week, a campaign spokesman said, but not because he didn't want their money. The accounting move was aimed at preserving his ability to accept public financing for the general election. --Matthew Mosk

Sen. John McCain apologized Friday for opposing a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. as he honored the slain civil rights leader at the hotel where he was assassinated 40 years ago. --Michael D. Shear

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, and both Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain will commemorate the day with appearances in Memphis. Sen. Barack Obama, however, couldn't make it to Memphis. --Shailagh Murray

Arizona Sen. John McCain is not currently protected by the Secret Service, despite having locked up the GOP nomination for president and spending most of his time campaigning before large crowds, the director of the agency testified today. --Christopher Lee and Michael D. Shear

In the weeks since he became the presumptive Republican nominee, polls show that Arizona Sen. John McCain has been steadily winning over rank and file evangelicals and conservatives. But when it comes to conservative Christian leaders, McCain is still largely in a stand-off. Chief among his critics is long-time evangelical leader James Dobson. --Krissah Williams

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Sen. John McCain told a radio talk show host that he is "getting together a list" of names to be his vice presidential running mate, but he said the process is still in its early stages. --Michael D. Shear

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Sen. John McCain today declared that he had once been "captive to the unruly passions of youth" as he recalled his "usual immature ways" while attending Episcopal High School. --Michael D. Shear

MERIDIAN, Miss. -- If Sen. John McCain needed another reminder of the tragedy of the Iraq war he supports, he got it as he rode in his Straight Talk bus here. For almost 20 minutes, McCain sat on the bus with Rachel Lee, a fourth grade teacher whose Marine son was killed by an IED in Iraq last year, while serving in al-Anbar province. --Michael D. Shear

MERIDIAN, Miss. -- Sen. John McCain expressed surprise that Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki instigated a battle in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in recent days without, according to McCain, notifying the U.S. first. --Michael D. Shear

MERIDIAN, Miss. -- Sen. John McCain returned to his ancestral home state to kick of a week-long biographical tour aimed at reintroducing himself to the American people and to highlight his military background. --Michael D. Shear

Democratic superdelegates watching the competition between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and wondering what to do ought to take a look at the latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll. The survey, out Thursday morning, doesn't provide all the answers they're looking for but does raise all the right questions. --Dan Balz

The McCain campaign revisited the economy today, issuing a statement saying that he would not be opposed to all attempts to help struggling homeowners, as long as speculators were not bailed out. --Alec MacGillis and Krissah Williams

CHULA VISTA, Ca. -- In his first public event since returning from overseas, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told a friendly crowd of older veterans this afternoon he remained committed to staying in Iraq after observing first-hand how U.S. troops were faring there. --Juliet Eilperin

LONDON -- Sen. John McCain took a break from meetings with high-level government officials in Europe and the Middle East this afternoon for a good, old-fashioned $1,000 to $2,300 presidential fundraiser in the heart of downtown London. --Michael D. Shear

The Dalai Lama sent a letter today to Sen. John McCain, thanking him for "concern you have shown regarding the sad turn of events in Tibet and for your efforts to persuade the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the demonstrations." --Glenn Kessler

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic hopeful Barack Obama traded barbs on the war that offer a preview to the potential general election campaign. --Jonathan Weisman

JERUSALEM -- What was supposed to be a somber visit by Sen. John McCain to the Western Wall this morning was marred by an unruly mob of Israeli photographers, police and tourists who threw punches at each other as they engulfed the Republican presidential candidate. --Michael D. Shear

This was supposed to be the week of Iraq, the week that the fifth anniversary of the invasion focused the nation's attention back on its turbulent project in the Middle East. And yet the war debate that gripped the capital last year has slipped off the frontburner.

AMMAN, Jordan -- Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. --Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear

EXETER, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain returned Wednesday to the state that, more than other, gave him the Republican nomination, holding what his campaign billed as his first town hall of the general election. --Michael D. Shear

CHICAGO -- Sen. Barack Obama set out to address the military gravitas question Wednesday, standing before nine retired generals and admirals in a Chicago museum to offer fresh details of his national security thinking and renewed criticism of his chief rivals for their support of the Iraq war. --Peter Slevin

President Bush waded further into the presidential race today, slamming Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for "empty, hollow political rhetoric" on trade and warning that they would make "a reckless mistake" by retreating from agreements to lower barriers with other countries. --Peter Baker

A spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain today condemned comments by Iowa Rep. Steve King (R), who on Friday said terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Barack Obama is elected president. --Michael D. Shear and Peter Slevin

Sen. Lindsey Graham heads home to South Carolina to campaign for a second Senate term, hoping to fend off conservative challengers angered by his close ties to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain (Ariz.).

As President Bush made his way out of the Rose Garden with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), a reporter shouted out a question about whether McCain would be acceptable to conservatives in the party. Bush paused, turned around and answered the question wordlessly by putting his arm around McCain for one more photo opportunity.--Michael Abramowitz

THE WHITE HOUSE -- President Bush had rolled out the red carpet for John McCain, emerging onto the North Portico of the White House, where he usually meets foreign leaders, to greet the new Republican nominee. Only, McCain wasn't there. --Michael D. Shear

A Democratic group launched a massive new independently-financed ad campaign attacking John McCain today, launching the first assault on the Republican nominee in the absence of a Democratic candidate. --Matthew Mosk

DALLAS -- Sen. John McCain gave a speech he has been wanting to give for nearly a decade tonight, claiming the Republican presidential nomination and the chance to duel Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in what promises to be a tense battle for the White House. --Peter Slevin

FT. WORTH, Texas - Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced he would co-sponsor legislation introduced yesterday by his political ally Sen. Claire McCaskill to ensure that John McCain can become president, even though he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. --Shailagh Murray

HOUSTON -- The president of the Catholic League today blasted Sen. John McCain for accepting the endorsement of Texas evangelist John Hagee, calling the controversial pastor a bigot who has "waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church." --Michael D. Shear

The showdown between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton a dozen years ago was a generational clash that may offer some lessons for political strategists this year if Barack Obama manages to win the right to take on John McCain in the fall.--Peter Baker

SAN ANTONIO -- Sen. John McCain picked up the support of Texas pastor John Hagee, an evangelical Christian who has made support for the state of Israel a centerpiece of his ministry. --Michael D. Shear

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sen. Barack Obama fired back at Sen. John McCain this morning after the Arizona Republican suggested Obama was unaware that al-Qaeda had been causing trouble in Iraq. --Shailagh Murray

TYLER, Texas -- Sen. John McCain mocked Sen. Barack Obama for suggesting at last night's debate that as president he might send troops back into Iraq if al-Qaeda returns to establish a base of operations there following a U.S. withdrawal. --Michael D. Shear

CINCINNATI -- A supporter of Ariz. Sen. John McCain repeatedly used Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein, while ridiculing him as a terrorist sympathizer in an introductory speech for McCain at a rally here this morning. --Michael D. Shear

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Sen. John McCain said bluntly today that he will lose the presidential election in November if the Iraq war goes badly, then quickly tried to walk his own comment back. --Michael D. Shear

The Democratic National Committee will file a complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has illegally blown through spending limits imposed by the presidential public financing system. --Matthew Mosk

The League of Conservation Voters gave John McCain a zero rating Thursday on its 2007 congressional scorecard -- making him the lowest-ranking lawmaker among all 535 members of Congress. --Juliet Eilperin

Last night, after the New York Times posted a story online reporting that some of her father's aides had concerns about his closeness to a female lobbyist eight years ago, John McCain's daughter Meghan, a recent graduate of Columbia University, took to her blog with an elliptical entry that reads like a statement of support for her father as he headed into what were sure to be difficult days for the family. --Garance Franke-Ruta

WAYNE, Mich. -- The McCain campaign launched a broadside against the New York Times today, saying the story about the Arizona senator's relationship with a female lobbyist fell short of the newspaper's standards. --Glenn Kessler

Just when things seemingly couldn't get worse for John McCain, now comes a letter from the Federal Election Commission alerting him to the possibility that he may not be able to withdraw from the presidential public financing system. --Matthew Mosk

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Sen. John McCain today denied any impropriety in his relationship with a female telecommunications lobbyist, saying he did not perform any business favors for her and flatly saying there was no romantic relationship. --Glenn Kessler

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio -- Sen. John McCain criticized President Bush today for his practice of issuing signing statements that suggest the president will ignore elements of the bills he had signed into law, saying he "strongly disagreed" with the practice. --Glenn Kessler

DAYTON, Ohio -- Sen. John McCain said today that the prospect of facing either the first African American or first female presidential candidate would not play a factor in his selection of a running mate. --Glenn Kessler

Barack Obama's campaign seemed reticent to respond to John McCain's attacks early this morning, but when the Arizona Republican's latest comments went public, they were forced to answer.--Jonathan Weisman

Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Barack Obama this morning of engaging in "Washington doublespeak" and challenged him to abide by what he called a signed commitment to accept public financing in the general election.--Glenn Kessler

An increasingly confident Obama is beginning to battle on two fronts, holding off Hillary Clinton with one arm as he takes increasingly frequent swings at John McCain with the other. --Jonathan Weisman

Speaking to reporters after he flew to Ohio's capital this afternoon, McCain acknowledged that he still needed to energize a Republican electorate that was dismayed by GOP missteps in recent years. --Glenn Kessler

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania -- His father, brother and former advisers are now all officially on the John McCain bandwagon and President Bush is edging ever closer himself. But as titular head of the party, he still can't quite bring himself to declare the Republican contest over. --Peter Baker

As he accepted the endorsement of former president George H. W. Bush, Sen. John McCain declared that he would be "honored" to campaign with the current President Bush during the upcoming campaign in the fall. --Michael D. Shear

Former president George H. W. Bush, the father of the current president, plans to endorse Sen. John McCain in Houston on Monday, according to Republican sources familiar with the decision.--Michael D. Shear

As he gets closer to the Republican nomination, John McCain has been trying to balance his unqualified support for the Iraq war by reminding audiences that he was also a tough critic of the way it was managed until President Bush finally changed strategies a year ago.--Peter Baker

John McCain will challenge his Democratic opponent to many debates if he is the Republican nominee, his campaign manager Rick Davis told reporters today, and will accept public financing of the general election campaign.-- David S. Broder

Sen. John McCain may have effectively clinched the Republican nomination last night, with convincing wins in the Potomac Primary states. But online, McCain has not only fallen behind Rep. Ron Paul, the Internet rock star, but also badly trails Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. --Jose Antonio Vargas

Republican presidential nominee-to-be John McCain received a far warmer welcome this morning from House Republicans than he had been led to expect -- he accepted the endorsements of the entire top House GOP leadership. --Jonathan Weisman

At an annual meeting of conservatives in Washington, D.C., Mitt Romney ended his campaign, and John McCain turned his attention to shoring up support among conservatives as he prepares for the general election campaign. The Post's Dan Balz provides analysis.

President Bush plans to give an implicit endorsement of onetime rival John McCain's conservative bona fides tomorrow as the Arizona senator seeks to consolidate the party behind his candidacy. --Peter Baker

He got booed, some. But John McCain also got cheered, and most of the time the cheers drowned out the boos to the degree that McCain, making a dramatic appearance before the Conservative Political Action Committee gathering in Washington, might plausibly have felt himself amid allies. --Joel Achenbach

ABOARD THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN PLANE -- There's a fine line between number crunching and being cocky, and it's a line Charlie Black tried mightily to negotiate as he discussed Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) delegate count with reporters this afternoon. --Juliet Eilperin

Republican campaign operatives call it the Gramm-o-meter, the money a candidate spends per delegate won, in honor of Phil Gramm, the former Texas senator who spent $25 million and won just 10 delegates, or $2.5 million per. --Jonathan Wiesman

Exit polls showed McCain won New York by outpacing Romney by a wide margin among Republicans, even while lagging behind Romney among "very conservative" GOP voters by 20 percentage points. --Spencer Hsu

On CBS, they're making it sound like it's going to be a bad night for Hillary, apparently based on exit polls. There is talk of an Obama "surge." The only catch with these exit polls is that many people have not yet exited the polls, since the polls are still open all across the country, except in West Virginia, where there never were any polls, just a secret convention of men in trench coats. --Joel Achenbach

Late voters could be hampered by more than just confusion and the occassional machine malfunction. There is a 70 percent chance of rain this afternoon, and showers could last past the 7 p.m. CST close of voting. --Darryl Fears

Polls are open in Arizona, where the weather in Phoenix is fair and home state candidate Republican Sen. John McCain is widely predicted to win. But Democratic contenders Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama
are in an increasingly competitive race, with Clinton holding onto a shrinking lead. --Ann Scott Tyson

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave a spirited speech early this morning in Rockefeller Plaza -- but only after New York GOP chairman Ed Cox delivered an introduction so lengthy that at least one of the officials onstage started rolling his eyes. --Juliet Eilperin

McCain told a group of reporters gathered before him, "I will compete and win in November in New York state in the nominee of our party," adding that he would pursue conservative goals while still reaching out to non-Republicans because "they also want someone to call all Americans to serve a cause greater than their self interest." --Juliet Eilperin

NEW YORK -- Flanked by a bevy of moderate Republicans in Grand Central Station this afternoon, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won the endorsement of former New York governor George Pataki, who argued he stood out among the GOP field for his national security experience and ability to reach out to independents and Democrats.--Juliet Eilperin

BOSTON, Mass. -- Staking his claim in former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's backyard, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sounded like a general-election candidate than someone fighting for his party's nomination as he addressed supporters in the city's historic Faneuil Hall this morning. --Juliet Eilperin

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Now that former North Carolina senator John Edwards has exited the presidential race, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is seizing the opening -- on the music front, that is. --Juliet Eilperin

Rudy Giuliani bowed out of the Republican presidential contest and endorsed front-runner and longtime friend John McCain. Giuliani calls the Arizona Senator 'the most qualified candidate to be the next commander in chief of the United States.'

With Florida Gov. Charlie Crist by his side, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) arrived at a local polling station and told reporters he believes the issue of national security will dominate today's GOP primary.--Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain has launched a series of negative radio and web ads against former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, hoping to convince Florida voters headed to the polls tomorrow that his chief opponent is both unelectable and unreliable when it comes to taking conservative policy stands.--Juliet Eilperin

Under attack by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) openly mocked his opponent for shifting his stance on issues ranging from immigration to climate change.--Juliet Eilperin

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist elaborated today on his decision to back Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying he was most qualified to be president on the basis of his national security credentials. --Juliet Eilperin

Arizona Sen. John McCain today picked up the endorsement of Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban American who may help sway that key voting block here, on a day when all four of the leading GOP candidates courted Latino voters ahead of Tuesday's primary. --Perry Bacon Jr.

As he seeks to win over Florida Republicans in a closed primary here next week, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reiterated today that he "earned more Republican votes than everyone else" in New Hampshire and South Carolina. The truth, however, if more complicated.--Juliet Eilperin

Once his bank accounts were bone dry. Sen. John McCain had to take out a $3 million line of credit from a D.C. bank to keep his Republican presidential bid alive until the New Hampshire primary. Since he won the primary, he has raised more than $6 million, his campaign spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker said today. --Matthew Mosk

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) forcefully attacked Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) today for suggesting during Monday's Democratic debate that she would set a 60-day timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq if elected president.--Juliet Eilperin

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee might have action film star Chuck Norris. Now, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has now struck back with his own movie-star tough guy -- Sylvester Stallone.--Juliet Eilperin

Sen. John McCain swooped into Rudy Giuliani territory yesterday to announce an endorsement from Alfonse D'Amato, the influential former New York senator, in a hotel in midtown Manhattan. --Robin Shulman

Looking ahead to Florida, where he will arrive later today, McCain said the state's Jan. 29 primary "is very important. I don't know if it's a must win, but it's certainly very important to me." He added that while the pro-military bent of South Carolina helped him edge out his GOP competitors here, that same sort of patriotism and enthusiasm for the military is also "very true in Florida." --Juliet Eilperin

A day before his victory here as he spoke with reporters, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) jokingly pointed to his close ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and declared, "If I do lose, there stands the reason I will lose." --Juliet Eilperin

Arizona Sen. John McCain declared victory in the South Carolina primary tonight, erasing the painful memory of his loss here eight years ago with a win that he hopes will provide him the momentum to finally capture the Republican presidential nomination. --Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin

Barack Obama had the backing of the biggest union in Las Vegas -- the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 -- and Hillary Rodham Clinton had the backing of female voters in Nevada. But the chief executives of the casinos that hosted nine caucus precincts along the city's "Strip" divided their support mostly among other presidential candidates, not the two largest vote getters in the casino caucus sites. --Paul Kane

Standing on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked in the Port of Charleston, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tonight made the closing sales pitch for his close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). On Saturday South Carolinians have the "awesome responsibility" of choosing "the military leader of the country," Graham said, and one candidate was best qualified to lead American troops stationed abroad. --Juliet Eilperin

When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was courting New Hampshire voters, the issue of abortion rarely came up in his town-hall meetings or stump speeches. But now, he mentions it on nearly every stop. --Juliet Eilperin

In a state where social conservatives represent roughly half the GOP electorate, McCain's campaign is retooling its message. While McCain and his supporters still speak of his commitment to national security and the war in Iraq, they are also talking more about his family values and his concern for the economy. --Juliet Eilperin

The morning after John McCain lost the Michigan primary to Mitt Romney, his team rolled out a new attack on the former Massachusetts governor, even likening him to John Kerry as a flip-flopper.--Howard Kurtz

Could Fred Thompson be
Mike Huckabee's Kryptonite and allow his old friend John McCain to emerge as Superman in the GOP nomination process? Ed Rollins, Huckabee's campaign chairman, said in an interview yesterday it was his "sense" Thompson was continuing his campaign into South Carolina to pull votes of social conservatives from Huckabee and help McCain win in South Carolina. "If he loses this week, he will quickly endorse McCain," Rollins said. --Perry Bacon Jr. and Paul Kane

Fresh off his New Hampshire victory, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) shifted gears and emphasized an economic message this morning as he prepared to greet Michigan voters in the run up to next week's primary.--Juliet Eilperin

Arizona Sen. John McCain claimed victory in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night by embracing the joy of an unexpected comeback and declaring his intention to bring his brand of straight talk to the White House.--Michael D. Shear

Hoping to fend off the kind of campaign loss they suffered in 2000, advisers to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have formed a "Truth Squad" to counter any sort of negative attacks they may face in South Carolina, which could determine McCain's shot at the GOP presidential nomination.--Juliet Eilperin

It was a rough start for Gene and JoAnne Godfrey, 74 and 73, respectively. The frail couple desperately wanted to cast their ballots for John McCain this morning at one of the largest and busiest voting stations, but they were forced to trudge through a snow drift by an unlikely culprit: McCain's own campaign entourage. --Lois Romano

While Arizona Sen. John McCain is leaving the Granite State this afternoon to do some last-minute campaigning in Iowa, he joked to reporters here he was better off letting his wife Cindy and Senate colleague Joseph I. Lieberman deliver his message to voters. --Juliet Eilperin

Arizona Sen. John McCain reacted quickly to the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto Thursday, calling the killing "a great tragedy" that would embolden Islamic extremists throughout the Middle East. --Dan Balz

The Republican presidential contest is in flux in New Hampshire, where former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney spent Sunday campaigning in an effort to stay ahead of a surging Arizona Sen. John McCain. --Michael D. Shear